Arden Termite & Pest Control

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Flying Insects
If you see flying insects inside your house during the springtime, they are most likely subterranean termites. Call us for a free inspection to identify them. Termites are often look like flying ants.

Termites are social insects that live in large colonies. There are three groups of individuals or castes: reproductives, workers, and soldiers.

Termites digest cellulose in wood with the aid of special micro-organisms within their digestive system. The workers prefer to feed on fungus-infected wood but readily feed on undamaged wood as well. The foraging workers feed immature workers, reproductives, and soldiers with food materials from their mouths and anuses.

Subterranean termite colonies are established by winged reproductives which, depending on the species, swarm (winged reproductives: kings and queens  fly out of the colony) from spring through the summer. A male and female that have swarmed from an established colony lose their wings and seek a dark cavity inside where they mate and raise the first group of workers. Both of these reproductives feed on wood, tend the eggs, and build the initial nest.

Upon maturation, the workers expand the colony and feed the reproductives. In some species, as the colony becomes larger, supplementary reproductives are produced to lay eggs that become workers. The soldiers, who multiply as the colony increases in size, are responsible for repelling invading ants and other predators.